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Month: October 2014

It’s hard to beat a really good homemade curry. I love this one – it uses lentils as a base and then I pretty much just chuck in whatever other veggies I fancy on the day. No hard and fast rules – just go with what you fancy.

Much healthier than a takeaway and quick and easy to make too!

Drizzle of sunflower oil

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons mixed spice

4 teaspoons garam masala

2 teaspoons chilli flakes

2 red onions (peeled and chopped)

1 aubergine (chopped)

Half a mug red lentils

Two mugs of vegetable stock (I use Kallo organic veg stock cubes)

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

2 large handfuls of kale (roughly chopped)

1 punnet of organic cherry tomatoes

Salt and pepper to season

Heat a drizzle of oil in a pan with the aubergine and shallow fry for a few minutes, until browned on all sides

In another pan heat some oil and add the spices and the onions for a few minutes to soften

Add the lentils followed by the veg stock, tomato puree and fried aubergine. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes

Add the kale, cherry tomatoes and seasoning and cook for a further 5 minutes

This meal came about because we were running low on fresh food before we did the weekly shop and needed to use up potatoes, rocket, tomatoes and some celery… My husband decided to make himself a tomato soup and I opted for potato cakes – the soup was thicker than planned and so became a sauce and I decided that my potato cakes needed a little of something extra. Hey-presto – a new meal was born!

Somewhat surprisingly it actually tasted really good so has now become a bit of a regular!

For the smashed potato cakes:

Small bag of organic new potaotes

Half a bag of organic rocket (roughly chopped)

A drizzle of olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

For the sauce:

A drizzle of olive oil

1 medium organic onion (peeled and chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (peeled and chopped)

6 organic tomatoes (chopped)

1 tin of organic chopped tomatoes

1 stick of celery (roughly chopped)

Approximately 1 pint of vegetable stock

1 teaspoon of agave syrup

Salt and pepper to season

To make the sauce:

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the garlic and the onion, fry for a few moments to soften

Add the celery for a further few minutes

Add the tomatoes (tinned and fresh), stock and agave syrup to the pan and simmer for 20 minutes

Season to taste

Blend to a smooth consistency (I use a hand-held blender)

To make the potato cakes:

Boil the potatoes for approximately 10-12 minutes, until cooked (I leave the skins on)

Drain the potatoes and then add the chopped rocket, olive oil and salt and pepper to the pan

Roughly mash all the ingredients together

Shape the mixture into chef rings to make patties and then fry in a little olive oil for a few minutes each side